THE OLD SWITCHEROO

Not since the invention of the revolving door has
there been a change of direction like the one in a
Sussex County legislative race.

Beth McGinn, a candidate for state representative,
went into the election with one party but came out with
the other. She filed as a Republican. Next she un-filed.
Then she filed as a Democrat.

It was all legal, and the Delaware Democrats are
happy to have her. Finding candidates in Sussex County,
the most conservative part of the state, is not exactly
a snap for them. Four out of the 14 legislative races
there are giveaways to the Republicans with the
Democrats failing to field anyone.

McGinn's candidacy even merited a press release from
the party. "I could not be more proud to have Beth
McGinn on this year's Democratic ticket," John Daniello,
the state chair, said in a statement.

This in-and-out politicking is happening in the 37th
Representative District, where McGinn is running against
Ruth Briggs King, a Republican who has only been a
Republican. King went to the House of Representatives in
a special election in 2009.

King has had quite the metamorphosis this campaign
season. She went from having a Republican primary
opponent to a free ride to a Democratic opponent, all
because of McGinn.

King, the executive director of the Sussex County
Association of Realtors, is a seasoned candidate,
winning the special election with 54 percent of the vote
and re-election in 2010 with 62 percent, but she is
dealing with a new twist for the 2012 election, and not
just McGinn.

The district has been vastly reconfigured by
redistricting. It stretches from Georgetown, the county
seat, east to new territory in Long Neck, where there is
a vocal constituency living in manufactured housing. The
voter registration modestly favors the Democrats.

There was a broad suspicion when the district was
recast by the House's majority Democrats that they meant
to stir up trouble for King, who lives near Georgetown,
and although Pete Schwartzkopf, the Democratic majority
leader, is all innocence, it certainly worked out that
way. McGinn is from Long Neck.

King is taking it in stride. "Absolutely, it was
drawn for me, but I've basically campaigned every year
for the past four years. The issues in Sussex County are
pretty much the same," she said.

How King and McGinn became opponents is kind of
complicated.

McGinn was not in politics. She moved to Long Neck
after retiring from Sunoco in Philadelphia, did her
civic duty by registering to vote in 2002 as a Democrat,
joined the American Legion Auxiliary and also got
involved in the manufactured housing association.

As part of a project to help homeless veterans, she
worked with Eric Bodenweiser, who also happens to be a
Republican running in a primary against Joe Booth, the
senator from Georgetown. Bodenweiser asked her to
consider switching parties so she could give him a vote,
and she did. That was in December, according to voter
registration records.

Then along came legislation designed to limit rent
increases in manufactured housing communities to the
consumer price index, unless owners get approval for a
bigger hike from the Governor's Advisory Council on
Manufactured Housing.

The bill was passed by the Senate, where Booth voted
against it. Then it was defeated in the House, where
King declared a conflict and did not vote on it. McGinn
heard politics calling.

"I always knew our senator is not in favor of the
homeowners, now our representative, too. We don't send
people to not vote," McGinn said.

King explained she abstained because of a potential
financial conflict arising from her uncles' ownership of
manufactured housing communities. Besides, she thought
the bill was flawed, anyway, because it meant business
owners could have to open their books to a government
panel, and not only that, but what happens if the
advisory council lacks a quorum to act?

McGinn approached Schwartzkopf, the Democratic
majority leader from nearby Rehoboth Beach, and said she
wanted to run against King. By this time, though, the
state was in a registration blackout, preventing voters
from changing parties before the primary on Sept. 11.

McGinn could not switch back to the Democrats, but
never mind. She decided to run as a Republican and force
a primary. "I just can't let this go," she said.

McGinn filed on July 10, the deadline for candidates
to get on the ballot. The Democrats were unable to
recruit anyone, so it looked like King and McGinn would
clash in the Republican primary, and that would be that.

Then came the twist. McGinn backed out and withdrew
her candidacy on July 13. It looked like King would run
unopposed, but McGinn and the Democrats had something
else in mind.

Politics is nothing if not riddled with loopholes.
Because nobody voluntarily filed for the Democrats, they
were allowed to fill the spot with someone, regardless
of registration, as long as the candidate and the party
signed affidavits certifying they wanted each other.

"It's not anything new, but we don't often get it,"
said Elaine Manlove, the election commissioner.

McGinn went back on the ballot on July 27 as a
Democrat. The election was on.

"She never should have been a Republican. She was a
Democrat all along," said Daniello, the Democrats' state
chair.

The Democrats do not think of what happened as
poaching a candidate, but bringing one home. By the way,
if Bodenweiser loses to Booth in that Senate Republican
primary by one vote, it will be clear whose vote it is.